


flower crowns and heavy eyes

by sunnybits



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Like really cute, Nine wearing a flower crown, also angst, hecc yeah Ninerose, it's pretty short but whatever, sorry I love silly tags so I got really excited, that's all you need to know, you know you wanna read that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:15:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22353220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunnybits/pseuds/sunnybits
Summary: Rose and the Doctor are enjoying a party when the Doctor is gifted something special. Fluff and feels ensue.
Relationships: Ninth Doctor & Rose Tyler, Ninth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Comments: 13
Kudos: 54





	flower crowns and heavy eyes

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work on the Archive so please enjoy! Shout out to all my fellow Ninerose fans, feel free to drop a comment so we can chat about how perfect they are.

It turned out, to Rose’s surprise, that the little midget aliens who lived in mud huts could throw one hell of a party. 

This had to be, Rose reflected, her favorite part of saving the universe; whoever they had happened to rescue from impending doom that day were often very grateful, and more than once Rose and The Doctor were treated to lavish celebrations in their honor. Now of course, some alien customs were a little odd, and the food wasn’t always very appetizing - or even edible - but a party was a party, and Rose usually had a good time. 

These particular aliens were called the Darfin, and this particular party was one of the better ones. Brightly colored alien fruit - sometimes scaly, often spiky, but fairly tasty - was piled in high mounds on top of little Darfin-sized tables, filling the air with a heady, sweet smell. A few Darfin played a cheery tune with tiny pipes and itty-bitty drums, and young Darfin decorated with vibrant flowers danced within a circle of stones. Rose sat on a boulder, warily eyeing the mug of steaming, sweet-smelling liquid that one Darfin had handed to her. The Doctor leaned against a tree nearby, arms crossed as usual but with a relaxed smile on his face.

It had been a good day. They had saved most everyone, rescuing them from the oppressive rule of foreign settlers that were using them for labor. The Darfin had eventually gotten tired of the cruelty and tried to rebel, but the foreigners had the upper hand in size and technology. It wasn’t going well, but the Doctor came along and devised a masterful plot in no time to scare away the foreigners and free the Darfin. Unfortunately, he hadn’t arrived quick enough to prevent the death of several Darfin, and Rose knew it weighed on his mind.

She was contemplating saying something when a little Darfin girl nervously approached the Doctor, clutching something behind her back. The Doctor immediately knelt down to her level, flashing an encouraging smile, and Rose felt herself smiling as well. As brash as he could be sometimes, he also had an incredibly gentle side that made the odd appearance every so often. Rose could see the little girl put at ease enough to show the Doctor what she was holding and get on her tip-toes in order to place it lightly upon his head. 

Rose almost snorted. The little girl giggled madly and ran away. An intricate flower crown, large enough for a human, sat neatly on top of the Doctor’s big old head. The alien colors were vibrant and unique, and although it was cliche to say so, Rose really thought it brought out his eyes. The Doctor caught her stare and raised an eyebrow.

“What are you looking at?” 

Rose gave him her best look of innocence. “Who, me? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Does it suit me?”

“Of course. You look dashing,” Rose teased. 

“Well then, no difference, really.”

Rose threw a pebble at him. The Doctor dodged and grinned, then moved from his spot by the tree to go sit next to her. It was honestly hilarious, looking at him with his tough leather jacket, sharp-cut features and then that flower crown. Rose tried not to giggle. 

“Reckon I can drink this?”, Rose asked doubtfully, frowning down at her mug. She gave the contents an experimental swirl. The Doctor shrugged. 

“Probably, if most of the food is safe for you.” 

Rose inspected the drink again, then set it aside.

“Best not test my luck.”

They sat in companionable silence for a while, content to take in the sounds, sights and smells around them. Rose nudged some dirt with the toe of her trainer. Alien dirt. She would never get used to that. She turned her gaze back to the Doctor. He was looking into the distance, and she could tell his mind was elsewhere. She recognized that look in his eyes, one she had seen many times before. A kind of old, resigned sadness layered with guilt and frustration. Rose could practically hear the voices warring in his head, screaming at all the ways he could have, _should have _saved the Darfin before the bloodshed even started. She knew how badly he wished that he could save _everyone _, perfectly - every time, everywhere.____

_____ _

_____ _

Rose looked again at the flowers decorating his head, and thought of the little girl that had put them there. At least _she _was safe. At least they were surrounded by joyful revels - song, dance and merriment - and not by bloodshed. Why couldn’t he see that he had saved so many? Why couldn’t he know that the whole universe was grateful and be content? Rose wished, sometimes, that she could just hold him close and tell him, over and over again, that he was enough. She wished she could whisper those words to him until he understood. But his blue eyes would always be heavy, and she would never have the power to fix that.__

____

____

So she did what she always did - which was all that she could. Almost by instinct, without thinking, she intertwined her fingers through his. It seemed that with the same kind of mindlessness that he squeezed her hand, never even breaking his gaze from the horizon. She felt a sense of warmth flow through her, and looked at him closely. A muscle twitched in his cheek. 

She kissed it. She didn’t even realize what she was doing until her lips brushed stubble, and she was close enough to smell weirdly _normal _cologne mixed with the scent of alien fruit, the sour tang of sweat - Rose stopped, momentarily frozen. Her heartbeat echoed in her ears. But determined, she made up her mind and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek. She pulled away slowly, shyly, and met his eyes.__

____

____

The Doctor looked at her with an emotion she couldn’t read. Rose held her breath.

“What’d you do that for?”, he asked after a moment.

Rose paused, then offered him a smirk. “You just looked so very dashing in your crown,” she lied, letting her muscles relax. The Doctor studied her for a moment, then smiled. A bit of that heavy weight lifted from his eyes, and the lighthearted air from before returned.

“I am very handsome. Few can resist,” he said with a swagger.

Rose finally let out the giggle she’d been holding. She looked at his beaming grin and smiled. She may not be able to make everything better, but she could at least do this. She could be his companion. She could make his dark days just a little bit brighter. She had made him a promise, and she intended to keep it. _She wasn’t going anywhere _.__

____

____

“Sure, hot rod.”

**Author's Note:**

> Did you like it? I love comments, so feel free to bombard me with them. Hopefully I'll write something else soon, and this could possibly be the start of a Ninerose one-shot series? Let me know if that's something you want to see, and stay tuned!


End file.
